This post may contain affiliate links. Click here for my affiliate disclosure. If you purchase items through my affiliate links, I receive a small commission but your price doesn't change.
“NEW way to eat your okra!”
“Try this MIND-BLOWING superfood veggie!”
“This SECRET SUPERFOOD ingredient will trim your tummy in no time flat!”
OK, enough propaganda. Just make this breakfast shake if you want to get a hearty dose of okra into your diet.
I’ve noticed that a lot of okra recipes involve chocolate. I mean, who doesn’t love a chocolate-covered vegetable, right? Chocolate is great, but sometimes I like other flavors too – and that’s where this shake comes in. When paired with blueberries and other fruit (bananas, oranges, or peaches are great), okra flavor gets kind of lost…and to the picky palette, that’s probably a good thing. If you’ve tried the Chocolate Dreamy and decided it’s not for you, give this shake a try instead. You might find that you can handle okra better in this flavor combo.
Trim Healthy Mamas, this filling shake is an E because of the high dosage of blueberries and fruit involved. Did I mention that this shake is filling? It will definitely fill you up for breakfast, but if you don’t want quite so much (the recipe actually made 2 of the milkshake glasses shown in the picture), halve the recipe. I do recommend keeping the whole amount of protein powder to help fill you up, though.
There’s no ice in this shake (it relies on frozen blueberries and okra for its smoothie quality), so it has a nice smooth texture. There’s a whole cup of okra in this baby! If that’s too much for your taste buds – either in taste or texture – feel free to just use half the okra and replace the other half with ice.
Click here to see an index of all my okra recipes!
Comment below and tell me which fruit is your favorite in this shake! I personally like to get my half bananas in fairly frequently because if I don’t, I start getting muscle cramps in my feet.
You may also enjoy:
- Starting THM
- my recipe index
- my recipes grouped by fuel type, allergy info, and theme
- all my okra recipes
- all my single-serve recipes
- 1 c. frozen diced okra*
- 1 c. frozen blueberries
- 1 c. unsweetened almond milk**
- ½ med. banana, 1 orange (peeled), or 1 peach
- ⅓ c. low-fat cottage cheese
- 2 T. whey protein powder
- ¼ tsp. cinnamon
- 3 doonks THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder (a doonk is 1/32 tsp.)
- ¼ tsp. glucomannan
- Blend all the ingredients together until completely smooth and enjoy!
**I actually use part almond milk, part water, to save money. If you have a nut allergy, try carton (not canned) coconut milk in place of the almond milk. (Most people with nut allergies can have coconut products, but check with your doctor first.)
Be sure to use frozen okra and frozen blueberries since this recipe does not call for any ice. If you feel like a cup of okra is too much for you either in taste or texture, try subbing half of it with ice.
Suggested Products:
Annette says
Curious. Why not canned coconut milk? Cartons have extra ingredients.
Briana Thomas Burkholder says
Canned coconut milk would likely turn this into a THM XO (combination of carbs and fats) since canned coconut milk is high in fat. If you don’t follow the THM diet, feel free to use the canned variety.
Lynnita says
Can kale be subbed for the okra?
TY,
Lynnita
Briana Thomas Burkholder says
I personally wouldn’t try that and it will really change the texture, but you’re welcome to experiment.
KATHY says
IS THERE A SUBSITURE FOR GLUCOMANNAN?
AND WHAT IS IT AND WHAT DOES IT DO?
Briana Thomas Burkholder says
You can use xanthan gum in its place. 🙂 Both are natural thickeners.
Kendra says
Can I use gentle sweet instead for the sweetener? 🙂 if so how much?
Briana Thomas Burkholder says
Feel free to use your favorite low glycemic sweetener to taste! I don’t use Gentle Sweet a lot so I’m afraid I don’t have any suggestions for amounts.
Robin says
This was delicious! I love the addition of the cinnamon!
Kerri J Shoopman says
Just for information use. Okra is actually a fruit, not a veggie. I do appreciate the low down on slime use. I like the flavor, if I could just get past that slime!! Lol
Janice Meiburger says
What can I use instead of the okra as a vegetable substitute? I can’t stand okra and I’m not even sure they have okra here (not in the United States)? Thanks.
Briana Thomas Burkholder says
I’ve tried frozen cauliflower in shakes before!
Karen Morgan says
Just a tweak on freezing okra to share with other gardeners or others who may have a good source of fresh okra. Last summer I discovered if I add a splash of white vinegar to the boiling water when blanching okra it helps cut the slime texture. I sliced okra pods, then blanched and spread out to quick freeze on a baking sheet, then put in bags while frozen. Worked great in smoothies.
Briana Thomas Burkholder says
Thanks so much for sharing! That’s an excellent tip!
Jenell says
I just made this for breakfast! Delicious! Thank you!
Monica Van Ittersum says
Could I sub the almond milk for some kefir? Excited to try this out 🙂
Briana Thomas Burkholder says
Yes, that should be fine! I would use double fermented kefir since you already have carbs from the fruit.
Dana Price says
Way too thick for me, but I can see with a tweak or two it would be good. My 2-yr-old grandson loved it as is. Thanks for the inspiration!
Monica says
This was so good! We’re dairy free so we made a few modifications, I used almond yogurt instead of the cottage cheese and 1 Tbsp Collagen for the whey and it came out fantastic!
Briana Thomas says
Wonderful! I’m so glad it worked! Thanks for sharing your tweaks.
Jules says
I am doing a fuel cycle this week and I have this smoothie planned for both E days, today and tomorrow. It is yummy!!! I think the only thing I will do differently tomorrow is add a couple pinches of salt to bring out more flavor 🙂 Thanks for helping make my fuel cycle enjoyable!!
Joan Parker says
Not a big blueberry fan, so I used blackberries–my favorite! I lowered the amounts so I could fit this in the 40 oz. cup of the Nutribullet mixer. 3/4 c each frozen okra, frozen blueberries, and almond milk. 1/2 (frozen because it was going too soft earlier) banana, 1/4 cup 1% cottage cheese, 1-1/2 T protein powder, 1/4 t gluccie, and scant 1/4 cup Swerve. Delicious and filling. I am not a breakfast person, so I usually make a smoothie to get the day started. Love the purple color, too.
Briana Thomas says
Great tweaks, Joan! Thanks for sharing!
Karen Morgan says
I have an abundance of fresh okra from the garden right now, but how can I prepare it for freezing to use later without all the SLIME?
Briana Thomas says
Blanching to cut down on the slime is recommended. 🙂 If you Google it, you should be able to find info on how to blanche okra. We used to do that but got too lazy, so now we just dice it and freeze it as-is. It is a little more slimy, but I’ve grown accustomed to it.
Mary says
How do you blanch fresh okra to get it ready to freeze?
Briana Thomas says
Hi Mary! My mom usually does it and I’m out of town right now so I can’t ask her. I’m sure Google has info on the subject. 🙂
Jan Jones says
I’m looking forward to making this smoothie. I’ve been making the blueberry lemon one you posted on your THM blueberry recipe roundup. It’s very good, but I have some cottage cheese I need to use up. Raw protein powder swells in my throat, so I’ll be substituting some collagen.
Angelle says
Ran the numbers and it’s a great E meal if you make this into two servings:
calories 179
Total Fat 3 g
Cholesterol 13 mg
Sodium 270 mg
Potassium 294 mg
Total Carbohydrate 27 g
Dietary Fiber 7 g
Net Carbs 20g
Sugars 15 g
Protein 13 g
Vitamin A 8 %
Vitamin C 20 %
Calcium 36 %
Iron 5 %
Briana Thomas says
I’m not quite sure what you mean about the 2 servings part. Are the facts you gave for one or two servings? According to the ingredients used, this recipe as written is an E. 🙂
Lisa Ann Wurtz says
how much fresh okra would i use?
Thank you.
Briana Thomas says
Hi Lisa Ann! I’d use a cup’s worth (freeze it first because the frozen okra is necessary to the consistency of the shake). As noted in the recipe, “If using homemade frozen okra, be sure to blanche the okra before freezing to help cut down on some of the slime.”
Amethyst says
If you switch the blueberries for blackberries/raspberries/strawberries – does it change from E to S?
Thank you for your help.
Briana Thomas says
No, this is still an E because of the fruit involved (half a banana, an orange, or a peach). If you leave out the fruit and use 1 c. of berries other than blueberries, you would have a FP. To make it an S, you would need to add a fat source, such as some cream. 🙂
Michelle says
I love love this smoothie! I have your cookbook too and I have truly enjoyed every recipe my family and I have tried! I can’t wait for your next cookbook. ??
Grace A says
Could you sub 000 Oikos Greek Yogurt (15g of protein) for the cottage cheese and protein powder?
Briana Thomas says
I bet that would work!
Helen says
If I am remembering correctly, even though this is an on plan E, it doesn’t fit the bill for weight loss, does it? I thought I read that you shouldn’t have more than 1/2c. Fruit to stay in weight loss mode. Is that correct?
Briana Thomas says
You can have a decent-sized piece of fruit as your carb source in an E meal. 🙂 The recipe calls for “½ med. banana, 1 orange (peeled), or 1 peach.” It also includes a cup of blueberries, and berries are lower in carbs than most fruit is. The important thing is to stay under 45g net carbs from your carb sources in an E meal, and this smoothie does that so you should be good to go! 🙂 Good question.
Sweetoholic says
HI Briana, In this recipe, am I understanding this to be 1/2 medium banana plus either 1 orange OR 1 peach? Or is it only one of either the banana, orange or peach. I get myself confused. I just don’t want to go over the carbs for an E meal. Gonna make this for breakfast tomorrow. It sounds yummy.
Briana Thomas says
Just one of the above: half a banana, 1 orange, or 1 peach. 🙂
Sweetoholic says
Briana, you always have such yummy recipes. Had this one for breakfast using the 1/2 banana and because I had to make it Dairy free, I left out the Whey and cottage cheese and replaced it with a full scoop of vanilla protein powder. This is a keeper recipe for my THM weekly planner. Thanks again. Gonna try it next with an orange.
Briana Thomas says
Great tweaks! Thanks for sharing!
Sarah says
Very yummy! Thanks Briana!
Kristine says
I was a bit skeptical. One cup of okra? Really? But since I love love love new recipes I gave it a whirl. I liked it. The texture is great without any ice needed. I did use a frozen banana and no gluccie – it didn’t need it. I shared it with a kid too so it was all good. 🙂 It’s the kind of recipe where at first taste you might go “oh no” but the more you sip the better it gets (that’s what my 7 year old thought).
Jennifer says
Looks awesome….a great way to get in an E meal:):)
Linda says
Is there a way you could make a dairy-free version of this?
Briana Thomas says
You could try using coconut cream in place of the cottage cheese, but that would give you a THM:Crossover due to the combination of carbs and fats.
Avigail says
Looks good! Can’t wait to try it! Thanks for another way to get okra in! Yum!
https://avigailife.wordpress.com/
Glenda says
This was SO good. Thanks
Christy says
Is this recipe in the cookbook?
Briana Thomas says
No, I’m afraid my cookbook only includes recipes posted through July 2016. It’ll be in the next one, though. 😉
Cheryl Leix says
Looks yummy, can’t wait to try this, everything in it I love so already giving it five stars!
Laura says
This was so good! I love having a different option for getting my okra in. It really does help to get you of a stall. ?
I did have to add a little water to mine to get my okra so mix better. I have a Ninja so that maybe why. Still really good!
Dennie says
I use mixed berries or mixed pineapple with mango.
Susan Kroninger says
Good morning Briana!
When will your cook book start shipping out?
Thank You
Briana Thomas says
Hi Susan! The book will be released and shipped around the first part of December. 🙂
Brooke says
This was delicious! And the kids agreed?